


The Tacit Racism of Marik and Odion

by Ariasune



Series: Nonfiction [7]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Meta, Meta Essay, Nonfiction, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 14:25:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18153032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariasune/pseuds/Ariasune
Summary: 9/11 changed Malik's name to Marik and other conspiracy theories.





	The Tacit Racism of Marik and Odion

 

1) If Rishid’s name was changed for the  **same**  reason they changed the other character names, why was his name not changed in the same way the other character names were?

Specifically, Rishid’s name is not localized to a Western-european name for easier pronunciation / westernization, (e.g: Anzu -> Teá, Jounouchi -> Joey). If Rishid is so hard to pronounce, why not call him Richard? Is it because he’s brown?

Nor is Rishid’s name localized in the same manner as Malik, or Isis, where they lean into alternative readings of the katakana, such as Lihido, or Rishido. If they misheard Rishid’s name, then why would it not be similar to other names they have potentially only misheard?

* * *

2) Why are  _any_  of the Ishtar siblings renamed along the pronunciation lines even? Enunciation, and mispronouncing are almost getting disingenuous as sole explanations.

The only other example we have of this is Yuugi’s surname. Is it a matter of easier enunciation, because: Isis, and Malik are both well-known Egyptian names, and are already in their western equivalents. Isis already being rendered from the original  _ꜣst_  and Malik itself is a rendering of the names  مالك, ملك, and مليك.

Even if there is some weight in Isis’ name being mispronounced, as the distortion of  _ꜣst_ -> Isis -> イシズ is quite strong, [マリク is itself pronounced as Malik](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fariasune.com%2Fpost%2F106480119114%2F%25E6%259C%25AC%25E3%2581%25A8%25E3%2581%25AE%25E5%2590%258D%25E5%2589%258D%25E3%2581%25AF%25E3%2583%259E%25E3%2583%25AA%25E3%2582%25AF%25E3%2581%25A0%25E3%2581%259C&t=ODA0YjdjYzZmY2RiOTA2OWQ2MGQ0MjA5YjkyNDYwMTRlZjM5Zjg1OCxLdWFxZ3NhMw%3D%3D&b=t%3ARBHMnmTRIiz2Ezrbtjgm6Q&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ariasune.com%2Fpost%2F172821028534%2Fdragontamer05-kay-doing-some-looking-around-i&m=1) by many characters. And given that Malik is the western rendering of a well-known name, then I’m baffled that the Marik pronunciation was simply misheard.

* * *

 

3) [There are accounts of Wayne Grayson (VA for Joey Wheeler) repeatedly discussing how the war on terror changed Battle City, and explicitly identified 9/11 as a contributing factor in Malik’s name-change.](https://prismatic-bell.tumblr.com/post/160063526216/the-problem-with-marik)

* * *

4) Why is the most striking change done to all three Ishtar siblings the removal of Arabic, and Middle-Eastern properties? Even with all this plausible deniability in the decision, and difficulty of providing anything but circumstantial evidence for 4Licensing Corporation’s inner workings on these choices, there is a big picture to the name-changes. One mispronunciation is believable, two becomes more questionable, and adding an explicit shift from Arabic to Esran for the final sibling is– not just questionable, but almost incriminating at this point.

* * *

I do not know how to be clearer about this; the dub localized the Ishtar siblings differently to  _every_ other member of the cast, [almost certainly  _ **because**  _they were  _too_  Arabic](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fariasune.com%2Fpost%2F172821028534%2Fdragontamer05-kay-doing-some-looking-around-i&t=NjU4NDFlZGMwM2QwYzA3YTEwZTA0MTgxOWI2MGZhZTg3MzRkZDcyYSxUSXNuMVZFcw%3D%3D&b=t%3ARBHMnmTRIiz2Ezrbtjgm6Q&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ariasune.com%2Fpost%2F172798468354%2Fthe-tacit-racism-of-marik-and-odion&m=1).

Even assuming genuine translation error with Malik/Marik, even assuming it is intended as Ishizu rather than a variant form of Isis, Rishid is difficult to overlook. The decision to use the Esan name Odion, rather than the Arabic name Rishid is one that results in little, but the removal of Arabic elements.

All three Ishtar siblings have first names that are strongly tied to the culture of Egypt. Malik and Rishid specifically have Arabic names. Unlike the majority of name changes done in translation, the names are not made more Western, or European, but are instead simply  **‘foreign, but definitely not Egyptian, or Arabic’**.

This decision is likely to have been made after September 11th 2001, an event that sparked growing, and specific Islamophobic-centered racism against Middle-Eastern peoples, and cultures. It is not implausible that this  _same_ hatred, and prejudice influenced the decision to acceptably other the Ishtar siblings. Even if it did not, the timing of airing meant this still impacted Arab watchers of Yu-Gi-Oh! during this period.

I do not know how to be clearer about this.

Even when people use Japanese names for characters such as Anzu, or Jounouchi, and even use the name Rishid, often enough there is a continued use of Marik, and with it a tacit continuation of  _all of this shit_. Marik is the most common name used for the character on Ao3. Marik is pervasive. [And this is not something unnoticed by Arabs in the fandom](http://daringambiguity.tumblr.com/post/158728089901/the-problem-with-marik).

The argument regarding Japanese phonetics, and intent is at best [dodging the issue](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fariasune.com%2Fpost%2F106480119114%2F%25E6%259C%25AC%25E3%2581%25A8%25E3%2581%25AE%25E5%2590%258D%25E5%2589%258D%25E3%2581%25AF%25E3%2583%259E%25E3%2583%25AA%25E3%2582%25AF%25E3%2581%25A0%25E3%2581%259C&t=NDM3ZWI0YzliN2E3MDgxNWM0ODIyODk0Y2NkYjY4YmEyNDU5MjI5NyxUSXNuMVZFcw%3D%3D&b=t%3ARBHMnmTRIiz2Ezrbtjgm6Q&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ariasune.com%2Fpost%2F172798468354%2Fthe-tacit-racism-of-marik-and-odion&m=1), and at worst, getting pretty close to orientalism.

I just– I’m tired. I’m really tired of this discussion being met with anything from apathy, to hostility. I am tired of being told “I’m used to calling him Marik”. I am tired of “it’s nostalgia”, or “it doesn’t matter”, or “I just prefer it”, or “why are you looking for problems, why are you making problem, why is this a problem?”

I do not know how to be clearer about this. The decisions involved were made from a hurtful place, and a hateful context, and we should do better. I cannot be clearer than this. It  **is** a problem, and we need to do better.

 


End file.
